Kevin climbed into the car and slowly backed up. He could see the two
men had already detached the chain.
‘It worked!’ Melanie said. ‘Congratulations.’
‘I must admit it was better than I thought,’ Kevin said.
A moment later, someone thumped on the back of the Toyota. When Kevin
looked, he could see one of the men wave for him to go forward.
Kevin used the same driving technique he’d used the first episode. With
approximately the same amount of power there was the same sudden release
and unfortunately the same clanging noise. This time a soldier had
appeared at the window.
Kevin didn’t move, and he prayed the two men he’d just met did the same.
The soldier proceeded to bring a wine bottle to his lips and in the
process knocked several of the empties off the sill. They shattered on
the stone pavement. Then he turned and disappeared back into the room.
Kevin got out of the vehicle in time to see two women being extracted
from the second window well. As soon as they were free, all four rushed
for the car. Kevin went around to detach the chain but found that Warren
was already in the process of doing so.
They all climbed into the Toyota without discussion. Jack and Warren
squeezed into the jump seats in the back while Laurie and Natalie joined
Candace on the middle bench.
Kevin put the car in gear. After a final glance at the army post, he
drove from the parking lot. He didn’t switch on the lights until they
were away from town hall.
The escape had been a heady experience for everyone: triumph for Kevin,
Melanie, and Candace; surprise and utter relief for the crew from New
York. The seven exchanged terse introductions; then the questions
started. At first, everyone spoke at the same time.
‘Wait a second, everybody!’ Jack shouted over the babble. ‘We need some
order in this chaos. Only one person at a time.’
‘Well, damn!’ Warren said. ‘I’m going first! I just want to thank you
guys for coming when you did.’
‘I’ll second that,’ Laurie said.
Having cleared the central part of town, Kevin pulled into the parking
lot for the main supermarket. There were several other cars. He stopped
and turned off the lights and the engine.
‘Before we talk about anything else,’ Kevin said. ‘We’ve got to talk
about getting out of this town. We don’t have a lot of time. How did you
people originally plan on leaving?’
‘By the same boat we came in on,’ Jack said.
‘Where’s the boat?’ Kevin asked.
‘We assume it’s where we left it,’ Jack said. ‘Pulled up on the beach
under the pier.’
‘Is it big enough for all of us?’ Kevin asked.
‘With room to spare,’ Jack said.
‘Perfect!’ Kevin said with excitement. ‘I was hoping you’d come by boat.
That way we can go directly to Gabon.’ He faced around quickly and
restarted the engine. ‘Let’s just pray it’s not been found.’
He drove out of the parking lot and began a circuitous route to the
waterfront. He wanted to stay as far from the town hall and his own
house as possible.
‘We have a problem,’ Jack said. ‘We have no identification or money.
Everything was taken from us.’
‘We’re not much better off,’ Kevin said. ‘But we do have some money,
both cash and travelers checks. Our passports were confiscated when we
were put under house arrest this afternoon. We were destined for the
same fats as you: to be turned over to the Equatoguinean authorities.’
‘Would that have been a problem?’ Jack asked.
Kevin let out a little derisive laugh. In the back of his mind, he could
see the skulls on Siegfried’s desk. ‘It would have been more than a
problem. It would have meant a hush-hush mock trial followed by a firing
squad.’
‘No shit!’ Warren said.
‘In this country, it is a capital offense to interfere with GenSys
operations,’ Kevin said. ‘And the manager is the one who decides whether
someone is interfering or not.’
‘A firing squad?’ Jack repeated with horror.
‘I’m afraid so,’ Kevin said. ‘The army here is good at it. They’ve had a